Making Their Voices Heard

The latest Pentium IIII computer will probably not change the world, but a single e-mail from the Prime Minister might.

In Hungary, a single e-mail message from Prime Minister Medgyeddy Peter helped build a network, encourage commitment to a cause, and further fundraising efforts. As advocates of the Roma (also known as Gypsy, Traveler, or Sinti) discovered, when people are willing to use technology, they can often get results faster.

Roma face a tremendous amount of problems including racism, unemployment, health issues, and poor housing conditions. In this environment, the work of NGOs is crucial to improving lives.

Using eRiders (called "circuit riders" in the U.S.) is often a great way for nonprofits to learn more about using technology in their work. E-Riders have technology skills and NGO experience, so they understand the particular needs of organizations. An eRider serves as an expert in the use of computers, a trainer, a communications strategist, and a management consultant.

In 2002, The Advocacy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based organization, recruited a team of Roma eRiders to help nonprofit organizations work more effectively by making better use of information and technology. The initiative, called the Roma Information Project (RIP), recruited eRiders in seven European countries: Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.

Since June 2002, RIP has worked with several Hungarian NGOs that focus on Roma. The following article describes the work eRiders did with NGOs in two areas: educational reform and political participation.

Educational Reform

The Power of E-Mail

How could a small NGO of Roma parents from the Hungarian countryside get the support of the Prime Minister for its campaign to desegregate schools without actually meeting him? And with members of the Roma community facing so many concerns about their basic survival needs, how could the organization get people excited about educational issues?

The Organization of Savorrengi Sansa, Chance for Our Children, tried to get the attention of the Prime Minister, but since it couldn’t pay its phone bills, it couldn't make any calls. There was no money to go to the capital to lobby for its campaign and raise funds. Failure seemed imminent, but the thought of giving up and sending everyone home seemed too awful.

In a last-ditch effort, Chance for Our Children sent an e-mail message to the Prime Minister and his secretary. After several weeks hoping for a response, it got one. The Prime Minister replied with a message that expressed his support and told it to keep up its work.

So how did the group go from near-collapse to this e-mail, and what lessons did it learn about its work?

Focusing Their Efforts

The Hungarian RIP eRider provided consulting services for the Chance for Our Children staff. First, the eRider showed the organization successful examples of campaigning, lobbying, and fundraising. Then they worked together to analyze their strengths and weaknesses. Based on this analysis, they changed the organization's goals and the way it worked to meet them. The members of the group also learned how to use technology tools like e-mail, newsletters, and Web sites.

In the course of their analysis, they made some important realizations:

• They could never meet the person they were targeting: the prime minister.
• They may meet people around him who don't pass on their message.
• The prime minister has no idea who they are.
• We spend money without any result.
• The prime minister would not answer any calls or faxes.
• They were trying to raise funds when people were not committed to their mission.

After working with the consultant, Chance for Our Children changed its tactics:

• The organization sent out e-mail messages to people around the prime minister and to the prime minister himself.
• The group updated them on their activities and their results every week.
• It stopped the unsuccessful fundraising and fought instead to get people committed to its mission.

After the organization received the letter of support from the prime minister, it approached its work with renewed commitment. Chance for Our Children was also able to use the letter as a publicity tool.

Networking for Change

The issue of desegregation is a complex one that demands a complex response. One organization cannot provide all the answers. Nonprofits need to identify whose support they need at which phase.

Nonprofits often address donors, potential sponsors, and decision makers first, but they tend to forget about their own target group -- the subject of their work. In addition, they may neglect to get the support of other organizations doing similar work.

After getting the support of the Prime Minister, Chance for Our Children wanted to address other Romani organizations. It was aware that it would be difficult to work with three organizations that had similar goals and were competing for the same funds, but all three were needed for the solution.

The group decided on a plan of action, whereby it would target other groups in this order:

1. The Roma community
2. Schools and kindergartens
3. The local university
4. The only Roma municipal representative
5. Other Roma organizations
6. Donors

Chance for Our Children sent the only Roma representative at the municipal government regular updates and got the support of schools, kindergartens, and the university. Its work was successful because the community was behind them.

Organizations that originally opposed desegregation saw that the initiative had strong support from the prime minister, the decision makers, schools, kindergartens, and the community. They didn’t want to be left out of the collaboration, so they also joined.

Chance for Our Children is now working with thousands of other children in two schools and five kindergartens with a high percentage of Roma children.

Prioritizing Their Work

Many nonprofits would think that fundraising is the most important step in their work. While it is important, it certainly isn't more important than identifying a mission, making sure any work is supporting the mission effectively, and getting the support of those involved. As we discovered, if you find money, but you don't have the support of your target group, you're lost; we tried to raise funds before we had the support we needed and before we had identified our goals and made an effective plan.

After working with the eRider, the desegregation organization changed its priorities, and only later got around to raising funds. Now the eRider is teaching the organization how to develop a proposal, how to keep in contact with donors, how to create a budget, and other skills.

The organization now understands how technology can help. Using technology speeded up the process, attracted publicity, saved money, and helped achieve concrete results.

Political Participation

Achieving political power is another important goal of the Roma community. With a voice in the government, Roma can influence policy in a way that can improve their communities. To this end, Roma Community Centers (RCCs) wanted to establish their own political party and win important positions among the elite decision makers.

The directors of the RCCs are often traditional Roma men for whom using technology is a mystery. The eRider taught RCC members about e-mail discussion groups, or eGroups. By using these groups, the national association of RCCS was able to strengthen its network, recruit new members, and find a forum for discussing its work.

After getting their feet wet with the eGroup, the RCC directors began to use Instant Messenger. They discovered the value of being able to see when their partners were online, and being able to share information without calling each other or traveling.

Members of the organization learned how to use search engines, which gave them access to samples of campaign strategies, campaign ideas, and slogans on the Web.

They were also able to prepare their campaign strategy online well in advance of community visits. They identified the most important issues for that community before they arrived, and they developed their platform and wrote their speeches by tailoring them to the community's needs.

The RCC leaders worked together to raise money for a portable computer so that the leader of the campaign could keep in contact while he was on the road. He used e-mail and the Internet to send updates to everyone in the network.

Web tools helped them save money and helped them communicate smoothly and timely. After three months of campaigning, they won the national elections of the Roma Minority Self-Government, a body that provides for cultural autonomy for Roma in Hungary.